Dr. Samar Raffoul

Profession: Structural Engineer with a Doctorate in Civil and Structural Engineering.

Samar’s experience in both research and industry ranges from sustainable concrete to light gauge steel and offsite Modern Methods of Construction (MMC). After Samar completed her PhD at the University of Sheffield, she joined Fusion Building Systems. Fusion is a UK-based design-manufacture-build firm that uses light gauge steel panelised modern methods of construction (MMC) to construct buildings offsite. The focus of her role at Fusion was to identify areas for improvement and propose solutions to help in the wider adoption of this novel form of construction.

It was while working at Fusion that Samar realised her passion was the early appraisal of potential developments and identifying when and how MMC could offer clear financial benefits over traditional construction methods. Her long term career goal was therefore to make her passion her professional specialism also. This motivated her to join Evolution Innovation in 2020, an expert offsite construction and manufacturing consultancy. Her work at Evolution has given her extensive industry experience in advising on the most pertinent design and construction issues when using MMC on residential developments.

An often overlooked application of MMC is with the conversion of existing buildings and this is where Samar’s input is an essential aspect of the Novel Properties development approach.

She has extensive experience in extending typical 1960-1980s office and residential buildings with MMC structures. While these, often concrete-framed, buildings are typically devoid of aesthetic appeal, their robust concrete frame when coupled with the lightweight nature of an MMC structure offers greater possibilities to add additional floors than has previously been thought practical.

Samar knows from first-hand experience how minor changes to a façade, the addition of an extra storey and the adoption of a creative design philosophy can transform the look, feel and economic viability of a commercial to residential conversion. This is why Novel Properties looks to her for advice.